How I Got The Shot #15 - Senior Shoot #2 - Indoor with Small Flashes!

Another recent senior shoot - this is Skyla's sister Brittany.

A little secret, I did shoot both sisters under the same lighting conditions.  They both got a location, natural light shoot and a more controlled lighting "studio" style shoot.

They both had great images in both sessions.  Today we are going to look at and evaluate Brittany's "studio" shots.

Check out the details after the break...

How I Got The Shot #14 - Natural Light Senior Portrait Shoot

Had a recent senior portrait shoot.

I'm not a light snob.  I like W. Eugene Smith's take on "what is the best light".  W. Eugene Smith was asked at a seminar he was giving the following question, "What is the best light to photograph with?"  He responded, "The best light is available light".  You could here a pin drop.  What did that mean?  Did that mean sunlight, perhaps diffused by passing clouds or filtered through an overcast sky?  He then added, "by that I mean any damn light that is available!"

 -- Thank you Joe McNally for introducing me to that story!

I hear all too often that people only want to shoot with "natural light".  Nothing wrong with that.  Don't want to invest in a lot of expensive gear, learn to use flash, speed lights, studio strobes, softboxes, umbrellas, gels?  Completely understandable.  However, if you want to be a professional photographer the utmost important thing is that when a client hire you for a job and you accept - you are able to deliver the shots you promised.

They don't want to be continually rescheduled during the rainy season or have to wait for an hour until the "daylight is right".  Just keep all that in mind.

Now, given all that...sometimes the sun is your friend and you can get all the light you need for free, from a source millions of miles away!  That is exactly what we did for this shoot.  Our Senior - Skyla.  Come with us on our journey - Skyla's photo shoot at Franklin Park Conservatory.

Check out the details after the break...

How I Got The Shot #13 - Split Toning

OK, I'm not going to write a new tutorial on split toning.  There are plenty of good ones out there and I will save you some time by posting a few here.  What we want to do is have an example of a relatively simple technique and how it can change the mood of an image.

Check out the details after the break...

How I Got The Shot #12 - Look For The Abstract

Whenever I go somewhere or go on a shoot, I'm always looking around me....I've trained myself like that to see if there is anything out of the ordinary.  You can thank my father and brother for that.  I was trained at a young age in various martial arts and how to survive on my own.

Weird how that can translate over into other things....but it does help you find those things that don't belong or objects of interest.

I've compiled a few images of some abstract or out of the way things.  I'd love for you to check them out!

Check out the details after the break...

I have some catching up to do!

Well given the recent sickness that had run through the family and quite a few jobs that needed my attention,  I have fallen a bit behind in a few things. 
Gotta get the blog posts up for the "how I got the shot" series for monday and I'm behind in following among with my Project 52 assignments as well.  No worries...we'll work hard and get back on track.
Stay tuned!